The invention relates to assemblies which may be used in construction and repair. More particularly the invention relates to bracing, alignment or scaffolding assemblies which permit adjustment under load conditions.
Upright structures may be fences, walls, sides of buildings, etc. They may also be structures such as foam block walls or concrete wall forms for pouring concrete foundation walls or they may be vertical members in scaffold assemblies, such as walkway assemblies. When working on such structures or using such assemblies it is sometimes necessary to adjust the vertical orientation.
For example, when making concrete wall foundations, a walkway assembly is needed to provide a platform from which workers may pour in cement into the forms for the foundation. The forms may be plywood structures or hollow interlocking foam blocks. Such a walkway assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663 herein incorporated by reference. After pouring the cement, there may be changes in the vertical orientation of the block structure defining the wall giving rise to a need for adjustment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663, it is suggested to adjust the vertical orientation of the wall by means of clamps which join two lengths of lumber which together form a brace. However, in the realities of the construction site, for example in inclement weather, such adjustment is not easy. The clamp may jam because of spilled cement or dirt or because of the cold weather. Fine adjustment is difficult with such clamps. Further, the adjustment normally requires two workers, one worker to make the adjustment, and another to check the plumb line for vertical orientation.
Similar problems are encountered in other situations in which the vertical orientation of an upright structure needs adjustment.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bracing assembly which can be adjusted under load conditions.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a bracing assembly for controlling the vertical orientation of an upright structure, the assembly comprising:
an angle brace having first and second ends, the first end for attachment to a fixed point adjacent to the structure;
and an adjustable connector for connecting the angle brace to the structure;
the adjustable connector including a mounting member for attachment to the structure, a brace mount for attachment to the second end of the angle brace, and a means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount and selectively adjusting the position of the brace mount under load conditions and in a substantially vertical plane.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a walkway assembly for use with a foam-block wall or a wall form and capable of providing support to the wall or wall form, a side of the wall or wall form comprising a workface, said assembly comprising:
(1) a plurality of vertical support posts for placing adjacent to the workface;
(2) a walkway support bracket mounted on each post, each bracket having a horizontal walkway lumber support bar upon which walkway lumber may be placed to span the space between adjacent brackets;
(3) at least one angle brace for each of said vertical support posts, the angle brace having a first end for attachment to a fixed point adjacent the workface and a second end; and
(4) an adjustable connector for each of said angle braces for connecting the angle brace to a support post, wherein the adjustable connector includes a mounting member for attachment to the support post, a brace mount for attachment to the second end of the angle brace, and a means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount and selectively adjusting the position of the brace mount under load conditions and in a substantially vertical plane.
The brace assembly usually provides support to the upright structure, as well as adjustment of the vertical orientation. At the first end, the angle brace would be attached to the ground or other suitable fixed surface. For this purpose, the angle brace may conveniently be provided with flanges rotatably mounted at the first end to secure the brace to the ground whilst allowing angular movement of the brace. The first end of the angle brace would normally be secured to the ground, however, it is only necessary that the first end of the brace is secured in such a way that angular variation in the position of the brace by raising or lowering the height of the second end, adjusts the vertical orientation of the upright structure. It will be seen that the angle brace thus represents one side of an imaginary triangle of which the other two sides may be considered to be formed by the upright structure and the ground. Thus when the adjustable connector changes the angle made by the angle brace to the ground, the vertical orientation of the upright structure is also changed. The angle brace may also be used in an orientation in which the first end is attached to the workface and the adjustable connector is attached to the ground so that adjustment of the means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount in a substantially horizontal plane adjusts the vertical orientation of the workface.
The angle braces are preferably provided with a telescopic or adjustable length. For example, preferably the brace is formed of three cooperating parts including two outside parts which are slidable within a sheath-like middle part so that the length may be roughly adjusted before attachment to the upright structure. Such length adjustment allows flexibility of placement at the work site.
The brace assembly may be positioned at any angle which permits adjustment of the vertical orientation. When the first end is attached to the ground, usually angles of from 30xc2x0 to the horizontal to 60xc2x0 to the horizontal, would be suitable and angles of about 45xc2x0 to the horizontal would normally be most suitable.
In a preferred embodiment the brace assembly is part of a walkway assembly such as the assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663 which is suitable for accessing different wall heights and pouring concrete walls. In that assembly vertical support posts are provided by two-by-four lumber pieces which are notched on one side (the side adjacent the workface), with a shallow notch which is intended to receive a fastening ring. This ring may be rectangular and dimensioned to just slide down the vertical posts. At the notch, one side of the ring is dropped in, allowing a space to develop on the other side of the ring. In that assembly, walkway brackets are provided with an engaging leg that fits between the post and the ring. The brackets also have a horizontal bar (to serve as a walkway lumber support), a downwardly angled brace, and a post-contacting thrusting flange at the lower end of the brace. By hooking the walkway bracket engaging leg onto the fastening ring and placing the thrusting flange against the support post beneath this connection, a sturdy support bar is formed that can carry walkway lumber to form a walkway. The brace assembly according to the invention can then be attached to the workface of the wall forms, or preferably attached directly to the vertical support posts to provide-the vertical support posts with lateral support. As long as the vertical support posts are in contact with the workface, adjusting the vertical orientation of the posts will also adjust the vertical orientation of the workface.
The vertical support posts may also be of any suitable material strong enough to provide support such as metal (steel or aluminum for example), plastic or a composite material, so that they can be more conveniently transported from site to site and more readily re-used.
In the case of metal vertical support posts, the posts may have regularly spaced holes for connection of the brackets by pins or bolts and for convenient adjustment of the working height of the brackets. The posts may also have flanges at the bottom with holes so that the posts may be secured to the ground, such as by nailing. The posts may be stackable or they may be a combination of pieces which may be assembled to increase the height of the walkway. The posts may be provided with slots along a side thereof intended to be in contact with the workface. Such slots would then permit the posts to be attached to the workface while allowing vertical movement of the workface in relation to the posts (such as during settling, or vertical compression, of a foam-form wall as it is filled with concrete in formation of a foundation wall).
It is preferred that xe2x80x9chat-shapedxe2x80x9d wall brackets are placed around the vertical support posts. Flanges formed on the wall brackets may then be fastened to the workface or wall to provide additional vertical support. Since these brackets are not fastened to the posts they allow the wall to subside, or compress vertically (a common occurrence with foam-form walls), without impairing the integrity of the support.
In the case of foam-form walls, the wall brackets may be fastened to steel reinforcement or other solid stiffeners that are incorporated into the wall. This may be done by using nails, self-tapping screws etc.
Normally the walkway assembly would have at least two brace assemblies to cooperate with at least two corresponding vertical support posts. If greater height is required, then two or more brace assemblies may be used for each vertical support post.
The adjustable connector includes means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount. This movable connecting means may be a hydraulically operated system or a motorized system. In a preferred embodiment, the adjustable connector comprises a mounting member having two flanges perpendicular to its length. A bolt passes between a hole in each of the two flanges. The bolt is freely rotatable in the holes of the flanges and has a threaded portion at least encompassing a portion of the bolt which lies between the two flanges. The brace mount would be pivotally connected to the second end of the angle brace. The brace mount has a thread to receive and cooperate with the threaded portion of the bolt thus providing means for movably connecting the mounting member and the brace mount. Rotation of the bolt causes the brace mount to travel along the threaded portion, thus changing the vertical orientation of the upright structure. Thus the vertical movement of the brace mount causes the second end to move in an arc centred on the point of attachment of the first end. The arcuate movement of the second end means that the angle of intersection of the second end with the axis of the bolt varies with the movement of the brace mount. In this preferred embodiment, the threaded portion of the bolt provides for continuous adjustment to any desired position between a maximum and a minimum represented by the extremities of the threaded portion between the flanges.
Preferably the bolt will extend considerably beyond the flanges, at least at one end thereof, to allow convenient rotation. For example, it is preferred that the bolt extends above the level of the walkway so that a workman may easily rotate the bolt from the walkway by means such as a cordless drill. If the bolt also extends downwardly beyond the other flange, the bolt could conveniently be rotated from below the walkway. It will be seen that in this arrangement, it is possible for a single workman to adjust the vertical orientation of the workface. Further, since the working portion of the means of adjustment, the threaded portion of the bolt, is below the walkway, it has protection from dirt and accidental spills which may descend from the walkway. The flanges at either end of the mounting member may also be shaped and sized to give added protection to the threaded portion of the bolt reducing the risk of the bolt device becoming jammed.
The mounting member is preferably provided with a slot along its length to receive the body of a pin or bolt attached to the brace mount. The pin or bolt may be provided with a nut to further secure the brace mount to the mounting member and provide additional strength. The brace mount may be conveniently formed by welding a nut, or a pair of nuts, to a suitable joint which may be pivotally connected to the second end of the angle brace by a pin or bolt.
The mounting member may be mounted directly onto the posts by means of pins or bolts passing through holes corresponding to holes in the posts. The posts may then have slots or channels to accommodate any bolt or pin which extends from the brace mount beyond the slot of the mounting member. The mounting member may also be integral with the post, such as by welding.
The brace assembly thus permits adjustment of the vertical orientation of the upright structure. In cases where the mounting member is attached directly to the workface, the vertical orientation of the workface may be adjusted during work on the workface. In the case where the upright structure is the vertical support post of a walkway assembly, it adjusts the vertical orientation of the posts after the walkway assembly has been erected and during use of the walkway. Also it permits adjustment without need to interrupt the workflow, that is, a workman using the walkway may make adjustments on his own and without needing to get off the walkway.